Edgewater doctor's sentence is 12 years

June 29, 2002|By Bruce Japsen, Tribune Staff Reporter.

A Chicago cardiologist was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison Friday for performing medically unnecessary heart procedures that resulted in the deaths of two patients as part of a decade-long fraud scheme at Edgewater Medical Center.

Dr. Andrew Cubria, 51, of Highland Park must also forfeit $2 million in profits and pay an additional $14.4 million in restitution, U.S. District Judge Suzanne Conlon ordered.

The North Side hospital closed in December amid millions of dollars in losses.

Cubria pleaded guilty in February to racketeering after he admitted he performed 750 unnecessary cardiac catheterizations and scores of unneeded medical tests as part of a scheme to boost Edgewater's profits.

Most of the unnecessary procedures performed by Cubria were paid for by Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, court records state.

"There were 750 people who had needles stuck into their hearts purely for profit--not because they needed it," Assistant U.S. Atty. Jacqueline Stern said in an interview after Cubria was sentenced.

Cubria's penalties are the stiffest thus far levied against individuals who have pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the Edgewater fraud case.

Cubria refused interviews with reporters after his sentencing.

Dressed in a rumpled jacket, red T-shirt, baggy blue pants and clogs on his bare feet, Cubria had little to say to Judge Conlon other than an apology for his actions. He was denied a lesser prison sentence, but Conlon allowed him to report later to federal prison after seeing one of his three children off to college in Arizona in September.

Conlon agreed to the restitution order despite telling prosecutors the government would "never" get the money because Cubria previously disclosed he had no assets. Prosecutor Stern, however, told the judge Cubria could one day "win the lottery," and the government could get its money.

At least half of the cardiac catheterizations he performed at Edgewater were medically unnecessary, as were many of the angioplasties. The unnecessary angioplasties resulted in the deaths of one patient in January of 1999 and a second in April 2000.

"To call him reprehensible would be nice," Gary Shapiro, first assistant U.S. attorney, said in an interview after the sentencing. "I can't imagine worse behavior for a physician."

Three other doctors and a hospital administrator have pleaded guilty and are serving prison sentences ranging from 35 months to 6 1/2 years. Bainbridge Management, which formerly ran the hospital at 5700 N. Ashland Ave., has pleaded not guilty and awaits an August trial.

Prosecutors allege that Cubria and others at the hospital kicked back money to physicians for admitting hundreds of patients to Edgewater who did not need hospitalization. Many of those who were admitted were substance abusers, homeless people and senior citizens, who were given cash, food and cigarettes and coached to lie about symptoms, prosecutors said.